LGT Group Foundation Lowers Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

LGT Group Foundation lessened its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 45.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,261 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,736 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $5,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,201 shares of the company's stock worth $3,209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 40.3% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 16,619 shares of the company's stock worth $2,402,000 after purchasing an additional 4,773 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at about $259,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 27.6% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Bernstein Bank raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut Estée Lauder Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE EL traded down $1.99 on Friday, reaching $132.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,791,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,798,211. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $146.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.23. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.22 and a 1-year high of $209.64. The company has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is 148.32%.

About Estée Lauder Companies

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.